Who's Your Daddy?

Who's Your Daddy? TODAY'S SCRIPTURE: …the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father.’ Romans 8:15, NIV. TODAY'S WORD: There used to be a billboard that asked the question, “Who’s the father?” It was advertising DNA testing. They can take a child’s DNA and test another person’s DNA to see if it matches in order to scientifically prove if two people are related. Out of the billions of people on earth, the chances of your DNA matching someone that’s not your family is so small that it’s inconceivable. When you gave your life to Christ, the Scripture talks about how you became a new creation. You were born into a new family. You entered into a new bloodline. Now imagine that somehow we could do spiritual DNA testing. They took a sample DNA from your Heavenly Father and then a sample DNA from you. They ran all the tests. The good news is, it would come back a perfect match. Proven beyond all doubt that you are His child! You have His DNA. You come from a royal blood line. Now don’t you dare go around thinking that you’re average. “I could never accomplish my dreams.” “I’ll never get out of debt.” Are you kidding? Do you know who your Father is? You have His DNA. He created worlds. There’s nothing too much for you! PRAYER FOR TODAY: Father, thank You for choosing me and making me Your own. Thank You for adopting me into Your family. Help me to truly understand what it means to be an heir of Your Kingdom in Jesus’ name. Amen.

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Why is Courage So Uncommon?

by Rick Warren

“Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent.” Acts 18:9b (NIV)

If ever there was a message you need in today’s culture, it’s this: “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent” (Acts 18:9b NIV). In a world full of ideas and beliefs that go against God’s Word, God wants you to have an uncommon courage and stand up for what you know is true and right. Everyone else is speaking up and telling you their worldview every day. Why shouldn’t you stand up for what you believe?

To stand courageously, you have to know what God says is the truth and what the world believes. This is called a worldview — what you base your beliefs on. Every person uses a different filter through which they see and understand the world. We may all be looking at the same event, but we will see it differently because of our conflicting worldviews.

Your worldview includes how you see God, yourself, others, the past, present, and future, money, time, good and evil. It influences everything in your life. Every time you make a decision, you access the worldview database in your mind and decide that, because you believe this, this is what you’re going to do. Your worldview influences every choice you make.

Here’s the problem: You are profoundly influenced by the worldviews of others. Every time you have a conversation, a worldview is being communicated. You are influenced by the worldviews of your parents, friends, an advertisement, or a newspaper article. Nothing is fair and balanced, because everyone has a worldview.

It is absolutely crucial, then, that you base your worldview on God’s Word, which is the only truth.

In a national survey, 62 percent of Americans claimed they are “deeply spiritual.” When asked how that spirituality affects their decision making, 31 percent said they make moral choices based on “what feels right and comfortable,” 18 percent on “whatever is best for me,” 14 percent on “whatever causes the least conflict with others,” and only 16 percent on “what God’s Word says.”

What does that mean? It means most Christians have a non-Christian worldview. You may be a Christian and headed for Heaven, but you can also have a non-Christian worldview because you’ve based it on what you’ve learned from the world and not from the Word.

Why is it important to stand up and speak the truth? Matthew 10:32 says, “Stand up for me against world opinion and I’ll stand up for you before my Father in heaven. If you turn tail and run, do you think I’ll cover for you?” (MSG)

God is telling you to make a stand for his truth. Taking that kind of stand requires an uncommon courage that is only available through the knowledge and understanding of God’s Word.

Talk It Over

• What worldview do you think people would say that you have? How do your everyday words and actions reflect that response?
• In what ways did your worldview affect decisions you made today?
• How well are you growing in biblical knowledge so that you can take a stand for God’s truth?